By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — Mother Nature certainly didn't do the Saint Mary's University track and field teams any favors Thursday afternoon — but the Cardinals made the most of their lone home outdoor meet of the season just the same.
 
Competing in cooler-than-normal temperatures and dodging raindrops throughout the afternoon, the Cardinals posted 24 Top 10 performances — and set a pair of school records — at the Saint Mary's Open.
 
The Cardinal men enjoyed a record-setting day, as Christian Beamer (Two Harbors, Minn.) shattered the 14-year-old school mark in the high jump, clearing 2.02 meters — easily besting the old mark, set of 1.97m, set by Rob Friendt in 2005.
 
The Saint Mary's 4x100 relay team was also in record-setting form, as Kyle Lichttenegger (De Pere, Wis.), Noah Anderson, Matt Boone (Mindoro, Wis.), and Desmond Steward (Milwaukee, Wis.) broke their own program record with a time of 42.03.
 
Anderson (200, 22.10), Lichttenegger (long jump, 6.55m), David Kemper (Woodbury, Minn. / pole vault, 4.71m), and Jordan Malikowski (Royalton, Minn. / steeplechase, 10:36.56) chipped in second-place efforts for the Saint Mary's men, while Dean Marlin (Sauk Rapids, Minn.) was fourth in the triple jump (12.16m) and Ben Borash (Bowlus, Minn.) was fifth in the 1,500 (4:11.53).
 
Other top 10 performances for the Cardinal men included: Lichttenegger (sixth, high jump, 1.77m), Boone (sixth, 200, 22.66), Tanner Moris (Crandon, Wis. / sixth, 5,000, 16:06.32), Jon Meaden (Rosemount, Minn. / eighth, 1,500, 4:24.24), Jacob Tschida (ninth, 1,500, 4:37.08), Isaiah Olsem (Fulda, Minn. / ninth, 5,000, 16:22.43), and Jake Homan (North Mankato, Minn. / ninth, shot put, 12.96m).
 
Danielle Franke (Mounds View, Minn.) led the way for the Cardinal women, placing first in the steeplechase with a time of 12.27.25, while Rachel Ohde (Chetek, Wis.) was second in the high jump (1.63m) and the 4x400 relay team of Hannah Crowe (Baraboo, Wis.), Sydney Klausler (Lakeville, Minn.), Alica Schurrer (Forest Lake, Minn., and Kynzie Smedsrud was third (4:11.62).
 
Jordan Keeley (St. Peter, Minn.) delivered a fifth-place throw of 37.01m in the discus, with Klausler (sixth, 200, 25.95), Molly Sweet (Prescott, Wis. / seventh, 800, 2:37.92), Smedsrud (Luverne, Minn., seventh, 400 hurdles, 1:11.29), Julia VanWatermeulen (Ellsworth, Wis. / eighth, 800, 2:38.90), and Anna Marinc (Carol Stream, Ill. / eighth, 1,500, 5:16.97 also recording Top 10 finishes.
 
The Cardinals are back in action next Wednesday, with the men heading to the University of Minnesota Twilight in Minneapolis, while the women head to the St. Thomas Tommie Twilight in St. Paul, Minn.